# Home walk-in humidor questions



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Hello PUFFers,

We might be moving to a new place that is bigger so I will have the space to create a good size (not sure how big yet) walk-in humidor (nice after months of research looking for a cabinet and was about to order one).

Since it's an apartment in a new building, it's unfinished and we pretty much can customize it with the developer the way we want.

*What are the key elements to have the best possible humidor?*

- water connection with reverse osmosis etc (so you don't have keep checking if distilled water is low) ... ?
- full thick cedar, not just panels ?
- can a walk-in be using an active system with fans rather than a traditional passive?
- what else?

Thank you all ahead of time for the feedback and opinions! :yo:


----------



## HydroRaven (Oct 10, 2010)

I'm in no way an expert, but I'm sure if you go to your trusted tobacconist he would be in a better position to help you. Most I've been to here in Tokyo have walk-in humidors. So I'm sure they can point you in the right direction or at least give you some good tips.


----------



## Troller98 (Sep 21, 2010)

I have built a couple walk-ins in the past, here is my 2 cents.

Seal the room with plastic to try and get it as air tight as possible.

Do not use aromatic cedar (you probably already knew this but I have been in several B&M that have used the aromatic chipboard for their walk-ins...yuk)

I have used tongue and groove red cedar planks that you can buy at your local home supply. Not as nice as Spanish Cedar but much less expensive.

I'm not sure what you mean by active or passive humidification but I like to use a wall mount humidistat to control a large house style humidifier. I have used the commercial style ones and they seem to be overkill for even a large (7'x20') walk in. Then get a good Hygrometer and adjust the humidistat by that.

Depending on how big you are going I have used a bathroom vent fan ducted from one end to the other to continuously circulate the air.

Be careful if you have any electrical outlets in the room, metal parts can condense water on them.

Cedar shelves are nice but I like using Closet maid wire shelves upside down and I spend my money on Spanish Cedar for building trays to set on the wire shelving for singles.

+1 on the RO, I live where the water is very hard and I ended up with a white dust of calcium on all my boxes before I started filtering the water.

+1 on visiting your local B&M if anything to just look at their walk-in setup for ideas.

Great post! I am currently designing a walk-in for my house that I have been putting off, you got my ideas floating around again. Maybe a good winter project....


----------



## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Good advice from Troller above.

One of the common mistakes people make is to seal the things up so tight and then not ventilate them in order to circulate fresh air. It's one thing in a commercial walk-in where it's either left open, or opened hundreds of times a day, but in a home unit, where it might not be opened for days at a time, you need to vent it.

An RO system is indeed essential. There's no way around it.

Spanish Cedar board is not necessary. Luan is fine and as Troller said, wood shelves look nicer, but likely wont add much in terms of moisture control or aromatics, since the room will be filled with Spanish cedar boxes anyway.

You will need an active system for humidification. Model will depend entirely on room size. Nearly all come with some sort of humidistat on them, so just use a remotely located standard hygrometer to adjust.

Good luck.


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep you all posted.


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

To come back a shortly on the air circulation, the entire apartment has central air circulation with air filtration. Should the walk-in also be connected to it?


----------



## HydroRaven (Oct 10, 2010)

In my opinion, if you connect the walk-in to your central filtration, your humidifier will be running full time trying to even it out, and your apartment will be very humid.

But then again, I might be totally wrong...


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

^ Good point.


----------



## Humidor Minister (Oct 5, 2007)

You may also consider hydrometers in various places to check for "hot Spots" that may need air circulated to them.


----------



## centralharbor (May 20, 2010)

Although a walk-in would be awesome, I'd assume that a couple/few cabinet humidors would be way easier to regulate and be cheaper. I'm sure you've thought this through, though, and your needs probably necessitate a walk-in if you're considering it.


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Humidor Minister said:


> You may also consider hydrometers in various places to check for "hot Spots" that may need air circulated to them.


Good idea. Will take note of this.



centralharbor said:


> Although a walk-in would be awesome, I'd assume that a couple/few cabinet humidors would be way easier to regulate and be cheaper. I'm sure you've thought this through, though, and your needs probably necessitate a walk-in if you're considering it.


Yes, I did consider (for several months) purchasing a cabinet humidor; I pretty much know them all. This was before considering moving to a bigger (and lower in height) place. The advantage of the new place is that it's an apartment in a newly built building that is not finished (giving us full customization possibilities). One small room was intended to be used as a wine cellar but since the wine coolers in the kitchen will suffice, I decided to make it a walk-in humidor.


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Guys,

I forgot to mention that the size of the to-be walk-in is *5 deep *by *7 long* by *10 high*.


----------



## Troller98 (Sep 21, 2010)

Hovy said:


> Guys,
> 
> I forgot to mention that the size of the to-be walk-in is *5 deep *by *7 long* by *10 high*.


Nice! Keep us posted.


----------



## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

It may be worth it to lower the ceiling
Most walk-ins I have seen are 7-8 feet.
That would save you 80+sq feet of temp/rh regulation


----------



## marked (Jul 29, 2010)

asmartbull said:


> It may be worth it to lower the ceiling
> Most walk-ins I have seen are 7-8 feet.
> That would save you 80+sq feet of temp/rh regulation


But just think how high he could stack the boxes! :smoke2:

I think the walk-in at my B&M is at least 9ft ceilings, and probably higher. I know they stack their sealed boxes on a shelf pretty high up. You have to use a step stool to reach them, and there's another two feet of space above that.


----------



## cigar loco (Jan 21, 2010)

Pull this pic off another forum, looks to be a simple build with nice clean lines and great display IMO .


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

^ love it, very neat.


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Guys,

Just a thought ... 

Do you think a commercial active system that requires refilling would be enough for the desired space? I am thinking to forget the triple filtration/reverse osmosis thing.


----------



## marked (Jul 29, 2010)

Hovy said:


> Guys,
> 
> Just a thought ...
> 
> Do you think a commercial active system that requires refilling would be enough for the desired space? I am thinking to forget the triple filtration/reverse osmosis thing.


I think it would, yes. You'd just need a system that could cover 350 cu.ft., and I don't think that would be too hard to find.


----------



## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Hovy said:


> Guys,
> 
> Just a thought ...
> 
> Do you think a commercial active system that requires refilling would be enough for the desired space? I am thinking to forget the triple filtration/reverse osmosis thing.


Everyone who's ever built a walk-in has gone through this thought process. They end up abandoning it. The reason is, you'll likely have to refill the tank every other day and the cost will add up. An RO system will easily pay for itself within 2yrs, not to mention the ability to go out of town and not have to pay someone to come in and maintain your humidor.

I'd also recommend dropping the ceiling and installing your humidifier and circulation fans up there. Install a removable panel so you can get up there to maintain things. I wouldn't recommend connecting to your HVAC, since it will dry out the humidor. Simply vent the room in order to circulate outside air. Everyone is always talking about mold, but mildew is the big enemy for walk-ins.

The cabinet idea is certainly viable and if you plan to move in the next ten years, probably the better option. However, if you're planning to stay put, building a walk-in will cost no more than a decent cabinet and hold a hellova lot more cigars.

Here's a link to a really good article.


----------



## Addiction (May 8, 2007)

If you don't need the space now and have no projected needs for the space at a later date a walkin is a far superior choice to a cabinent (cabinent owner here). However if I might ask an indelicate question: Are you and the missues (assuming its a missus) either out of the children zone or firmly against it? I only ask because nothing makes most people want to sell an apartment to get a house faster than adding a few little ones. And unless you are 100% rock solid you wont move in a decade then the cabinent becomes the better option (although I will never move my cab again, if I sell its conveying with the house!).


----------



## Behike007 (Sep 13, 2010)

Herf N Turf said:


> Everyone who's ever built a walk-in has gone through this thought process. They end up abandoning it. The reason is, you'll likely have to refill the tank every other day and the cost will add up. An RO system will easily pay for itself within 2yrs, not to mention the ability to go out of town and not have to pay someone to come in and maintain your humidor.
> 
> I'd also recommend dropping the ceiling and installing your humidifier and circulation fans up there. Install a removable panel so you can get up there to maintain things. I wouldn't recommend connecting to your HVAC, since it will dry out the humidor. Simply vent the room in order to circulate outside air. Everyone is always talking about mold, but mildew is the big enemy for walk-ins.
> 
> ...


Good point on the RO system vs refill and all the pros and cons associated with each (although the RO is the choice for a walk-in cigar humidor). As this is a project that both my wife and I are thinking carefully about, I am entertaining the idea because we are looking to make a wine cellar/cigar humidor out of the room but it will be impossible (due to temperature differences for wine and cigars) unless both are somehow separated.

So I contacted Vigilant Woodworks in NH (got to know them when I was looking for a cabinet) and I believe the following setup would be ideal:

source and more pics here: Login | Facebook

The size of the room is ok so a custom work with cellars at the bottom and humidors at the top would be best. Thinking to use Aristocrat humidifier or similar for the cigars in each section.

This setup would also thwart the several temperature and humidity variables required in the room itself as each humidor and cellar section will be controlled independently.

We are not looking to move for the next 10 years and if we do, the next owner could easily convert the cigar section to more wine coolers/cellar if he/she wishes.

All of this, is of course, brainstorming and I am sure things will keep changing.

Also, thanks for the article, I did come across it. Very informative.



Addiction said:


> If you don't need the space now and have no projected needs for the space at a later date a walkin is a far superior choice to a cabinent (cabinent owner here). However if I might ask an indelicate question: Are you and the missues (assuming its a missus) either out of the children zone or firmly against it? I only ask because nothing makes most people want to sell an apartment to get a house faster than adding a few little ones. And unless you are 100% rock solid you wont move in a decade then the cabinent becomes the better option (although I will never move my cab again, if I sell its conveying with the house!).


The desired space is actually intended to be a wine cellar from the start from the developer of the building so there will be no related problems. Not sure I quite understand the moving from an apartment to a house but we are actually moving from an apartment to an apartment; just much bigger in size (so we intend to stay for long). No kids yet and not against it.


----------



## stewartu (Jul 23, 2010)

Any update on this? 

Also, how much are you planning to invest in inventory? The thought of stocking a 5x7x10 walkin is daunting, to say the least.


----------



## jswaykos (Oct 26, 2010)

You'll just need a bigger walk-in once yours is filled.


----------



## stewartu (Jul 23, 2010)

cigar loco said:


> Pull this pic off another forum, looks to be a simple build with nice clean lines and great display IMO .


I agree, this is beautiful. Again, i wonder what the value of the inventory is. Lookslike about 300 boxes, figure at least $100 per box, ~$30,000 in cigars. Wow!


----------

